How Could An Angel...
by Melissa2
Summary: Trance voyages into a realm that few visit, only to discover something she doesn't want to see


Title: How Could An Angel...  
Author: ILH, aka Melissa  
Rated: PG-13   
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: All characters and the like from Andromeda belong to Tribune. The lyrics belong to Toni Braxton. This is a fic orphan and the first 2 paragraphs belong to Anna.  
Author's Note: This is a fic orphan/song fic that's not my normal type of writing. I had a sorta bad day when I wrote this, and my mood reflects on my writing. Hope you like it, even though it's not the usual Melissa thing.  
  
  
  
She watched him sleep. Unconscious, he no longer looked cocky, or defensive or desperate. He wasn't scowling, or inferior or trying to be sexy. He didn't stress his genius. He was free to be untouched by his past.  
  
She brushed back his wild hair from his clammy forehead, wondering what he would think if he knew she touched him so tenderly.  
  
He jarred in his sleep, causing his tousled hair again to fall onto his forehead. She smiled as she brushed the hair away again, her touch lingering this time. He looked truly angelic when he was asleep, when he wasn't haunted by his demons. When she lightly removed her hand from his forehead, she noticed a bead of sweat trail down his face.   
  
She frowned, remembering the fever he was fighting that her mind had been taken temporarily off of. Granted this fever wasn't as severe as some he'd had in the past, but every illness he contracted was a serious matter. He was prone to infections and complications that a normal patient wouldn't have.  
  
She watched his eyes fluttering behind closed lids. Without sedatives clouding his mind, he was capable of normal REM sleep and dreaming. She found herself wondering what his dreams held. Her curiousity began growing, especially since she knew it could be easily sated. Before she even considered weighing and calculating the risks, she had placed her hand on his warm face...  
  
*****  
  
She discovered herself in a familiar resort hotel on Infinity Atoll, one that she had seen in his vacation pictures. He wasn't anywhere in sight. She explored the surrounding area and eventually spied him in a small café with a woman. She hid herself behind a fountain and watched them from a distance. They were sitting at a small table, whispering and laughing with an intimacy she found herself very jealous of.  
  
He usually flirted with her, gave her all of his attention and smiles, even a kiss on the cheek sometimes. She secretly enjoyed it, though she never told him directly or responded to it. She relied upon the fact that he was persistent. Even when he did aim his coquetry at other women, it had always been in vain. His attempts with this woman weren't at all futile. She tried to remind herself that this was merely a figment of his imagination, but it didn't work. When he kissed the woman, she felt a pang of pain deep within her.  
  
iI heard he sang a lullaby  
I heard he sang it from his heart  
When I found out thought I would die  
Because that lullaby was mine  
I heard he sealed it with a kiss  
He gently kissed her cherry lips  
I found that so hard to believe  
Because his kiss belonged to me/i  
  
She couldn't pull her eyes from him as his affection for the other woman became more open. She gulped as they stood and headed in the direction opposite her. Part of her knew it would be much easier for her to break the dream connection, but she couldn't bring herself to. She followed them towards a tall escalator, concealing herself in the small crowd of hotel guests. They weren't difficult to follow--they were the only people in all of the lobby that seemed inseparable.  
  
iHow could an angel break my heart  
Why didn't he catch my falling star  
I wish I didn't wish so hard  
Maybe I wished our love apart  
How could an angel break my heart/i  
  
The escalator ride carried her to a floor of shops. Some of them actually seemed interesting, but she couldn't stop following them, even if she wanted to. They finally stopped at a small bath and body shop. She watched them from behind a display buying various bottles and whatnot. When they finished in the shop, they stopped at a novelty shop near-by that mostly consisted of recreated old Earth antiquities.   
  
They stepped into a booth in the front of the shop. After approaching it more closely, she realized it was a photo booth. They emerged from the booth with several pictures in hand, smiling.  
  
iI heard her face was white as rain  
Soft as a rose that blooms in May  
He keeps her picture in a frame  
And when he sleeps he calls her name  
I wonder if she makes him smile  
The way he used to smile at me  
I hope she doesn't make him laugh  
Because his laugh belongs to me/i  
  
They were soon giggling as they rode the escalator to the third floor. The third floor consisted solely of some guest rooms. Still, she couldn't bring herself to break the dream connection. She followed them down the empty corridor until they stopped at a door. After several kisses, they entered the room.  
  
She turned around, facing the end of the corridor. She bit her lip and tried to control the tears welling up in her eyes as she stood alone in the corridor.   
  
iHow could an angel break my heart  
Why didn't he catch may falling star  
I wish I didn't wish so hard  
Maybe I wish our love apart  
How could an angel break my heart  
  
Oh my soul is dying, it's crying  
I'm trying to understand  
Please help me/i  
  
She began realizing how much he really did mean to her, for her to react this way over a woman that was only a figment of his imagination. She couldn't, no matter how hard she tried, keep it all in perspective. Another realization came to her--the reason why the practice of dream entry had nearly died many years ago.  
  
"Trance? What are you doing here? Why aren't you on Andromeda?" he asked from behind her.  
  
She turned around, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You wouldn't understand."  
  
"Try me." He grinned at her.  
  
"This isn't real, Harper. It's just a dream," she said bluntly.  
  
"Well, my dear sparkly purple babe, I've heard a lot of weird things, but I've never had you tell me that I'm dreaming before in my dreams..."  
  
"I'm not your sparkly purple babe." She turned around again, fighting the tears.  
  
"Huh? What did I do?" He seemed very confused.  
  
"The other girl, the one you went in that room with." She didn't turn around.  
  
"Hey, that's just Cecilia. We met when I was surfing. But why do you care?"   
  
She was silent, staring at the floor sadly. She finally tried to break the dream connection, but found that she couldn't. Her mind returned to the stories she had heard about dream entry in her childhood. Some dream entry required a certain action or event to break the connection. In the most unfortunate situations, another capable of dream entry had to rescue the 'stuck' enterer. She really hoped that she could break the connection herself.  
  
"Trance?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know," she lied.  
  
He stepped around to face her. "You're crying."  
  
She sniffled and bit her lip again. "Why do you care?"  
  
"Because I care about you." He tried to take her into his arms, but she pulled away. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were jealous, Trance."  
  
She refused to reply, for fear that what she said would be remembered by him once he awoke. However, it was difficult remaining completely silent.   
  
"You are jealous...I, I didn't know." He did what he had originally intended and took her into a comforting embrace. "It's okay."  
  
She laid her head on his shoulder. "No, it's not okay this time. You don't want me-"  
  
"What gave you that idea?" he asked. "'Course I do. You're my best friend."  
  
"I don't think we're talking about the same thing, Harper."  
  
"You mean that you uhhhh want me want me?" He seemed unsure and surprised.  
  
She swallowed, wetting her throat that had gone dry as she cried. "I...yes."  
  
"Wait a second, you said that I'm dreaming, right?"  
  
"Right." She wondered why he had suddenly changed the topic. She came to the conclusion he didn't want her as a friend anymore and felt more tears falling onto his shoulder.  
  
"Great!" He grew silent for several seconds. "How do you like it?"  
  
She glanced up to see the scenery changed from the corridor in the resort hotel to a huge garden filled with exotic flowers. In the center, there was a crystal clear pool with a waterfall. "Wow...it's pretty, Harper."  
  
"And it's just for you and me. No one else. And since I'm dreaming, I can tell you stuff that the Trance on Andromeda won't know." He grinned.  
  
She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him that she actually was the real Trance, but closed it soon afterwards. She had been told by various people never to pass up an opportunity, and this seemed to be one. "What are you going to tell me?"  
  
"Like the way I've always loved your tail, even though I told you it was kinda annoying." He touched her tail. "It's really soft. Would you...well, wrap it around me?"  
  
She smiled and gently wrapped her tail around his waist. "Like this?"  
  
"Perfect. Now, another thing I've never told you. Remember that pillow that went missing from your quarters a few months ago, one of your favorites?"   
  
He had started absent-mindedly stroking her tail as he talked, and as he waited for her response. She decided just to enjoy it and not bring it to his attention. "I remember the pillow. I never did find it..."  
  
"That's because it's in my quarters under my bed. I sleep with it sometimes when I can't sleep because it smells like you, kinda sweet and cinnamony." He looked slightly embarrassed.  
  
She felt a blush creeping across her cheek. "You can keep it if it makes you happy. I have other pillows."  
  
"Thanks. Y'know, even in dreams, you're the same Trance. It's too bad I have to wake up eventually, and maybe I won't even remember it myself..."  
  
"You really want to remember it?" She smiled.  
  
"Who wouldn't want to remember it?" He smiled back at her.  
  
She leaned forward and slowly kissed him, closing her eyes. The kiss felt endless, lingering until they both opened their eyes.   
  
She found herself back in Medical Deck. She was inches from Harper's face, his blue eyes staring up at her in shock.   
  
"Was that real?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Nevermind, I'll fix it." He placed his hand on the back of her head and kissed her again. "Definitely real now."  
  
She smiled. "You should avoid spreading the virus through that sort of contact, Harper. You're too sick for it anyway."  
  
"You do look a little sick to me now," he started.  
  
"I do?" She was slightly worried.  
  
"Yeah, Trance, you look really lovesick for me." That trademark grin once again spread across his face.  
  
She pretended to concentrate on the medical equipment while watching him out of the corner of her eye. Things were back to normal, maybe even better than normal. 


End file.
